5 Things We Lost In 2012

Every year, I look over the previous twelve months to see what is no longer with us. Things become obsolete every year. Times change. Just like the horse and buggy aren’t a big business today as they were 125 years ago, we make progress. Here is a list of things we said adios to in 2012. All of them are not technology based, but I’d be interested in hearing what you can add to the mix.

THE TWINKIE

Everybody knows the Twinkie. It’s been one of America’s favorite snack cakes since the early part of the 20th century. Disputes between the Union and management caused the Hostess company to close its doors for good. Management gave themselves raises and golden parachutes while bankrupting the company. In the end, thousands lost their jobs, some people became rich selling Twinkies on eBay, and 2013 will see the reintroduction of the sponge cake treat under a different name than Hostess.

THE PORTABLE DVD PLAYER

You live in a world with a DVD player in every laptop. If you want to watch a movie, you can just stream it to your cell phone. There is absolutely no reason that a person needs to lug one of these devices around with them. Those same people probably still own a VCR and an 8 Track player.

EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES

Who needs a hard drive anymore? Apple and Kindle have “the Cloud”, there is Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box. Microsoft has come out with the Skydrive. All of these means that you can toss out your hard drives and thumb drives and pick up your information anywhere you can log into the internet. So long, bulky clutter!

JAPANESE RIVER OTTER

Not familiar with this creature? It’s probably because no one has seen the Japanese river otter since 1979. This past year, scientists officially claimed that the Japanese river otter is extinct. Several searches had been going on over the past decade, but there has been no evidence to this otter which once was widespread throughout Japan. In the 1930s, this animal declined and went on the endangered species list. In 2012, it no longer exists.

TRUST IN THE MAYANS

My entire life, I’ve been hearing that December 21st, 2012 the world was going to come to an end because the Mayans ran out of rock. Just a note, the Mayan’s never said it was going to end. Western civilization has a constant need to have us all die off in a horrible apocalypse is the real culprit. When are we going to learn that this is never going to happen?